Page 140 of Whispers and Wildfire
“This isn’t about me being jealous of some other guy. I mean, I was. But I’ve loved you since high school. I never stopped. And if you think I’m going to let you walk out that door and out of my life, you’re very, very wrong. I’ll pick you up, fling you over my shoulder, and carry you, no matter what it does to my ribs.”
Slowly, she turned to face me. “I’m not leaving you. I…”
“Aren’t you?” I asked, my voice gentle. I moved closer. “I think you’re trying to run. Baby, I’m not the one you need to be running from.”
“How do I know that?” she asked, her voice almost a whisper.
“Because I love you.”
Her eyes were wide, full of vulnerability. “You said that back then. And you didn’t.”
“Of course I did.”
“Then why did you break up with me?”
I looked at her like she’d just asked me why I’d murdered her entire family. “What? I didn’t break up with you.”
Her forehead creased in confusion. She marched back inside, closing the door behind her, and dropped her bag on the floor. “Excuse me? Yes, you did. And I have the marriage to another man to prove it.”
“You broke up with me.”
Her mouth dropped open, her expression full of offense. “Excuse me, Luke Haven, I did no such thing.”
“I’m sorry, did I just teleport to an alternate universe? Because yes, you did. You broke up with me. I was fucking devastated.”
“No, you weren’t.” She put her hand on her chest. “Iwas devastated.”
I stared at her in disbelief. “After prom, we were out at that party and we started arguing about something. I don’t even remember what it was, but you got mad and said you were leaving. That someone was taking you home. I thought you were going to cool off and we’d be fine in a day or so, like usual. But you weren’t fine, and apparently that was it. You were done with me.”
“That’s not what happened.” Her voice was indignant. “We were fighting, and you said you were sick of it. And I said fine, I’d get a ride home. And then… I don’t quite remember what else we said, but I left crying because you broke up with me.”
“I didn’t break up with you after prom. Is that what you thought?”
“Yes, that’s what I thought. Why else would I have stopped answering your messages?”
“Because you broke up with me.”
“Don’t make this my fault.” She put her hands on her hips. “It took you all of a week to start going out with Melody Torres. And then you were making out with Becky Green not long after that.”
“I never went out with Melody Torres. Who told you that?”
“I don’t know, everybody.”
“Let me get this straight. You left that night thinking I’d just broken up with you. And then you heard a rumor that I went out with someone else.”
She glanced away. “I didn’t know it was a rumor.”
I ran my hand through my hair. “Let me guess. When you heard that rumor, you immediately believed it and burned all my stuff and then made out with Derek Kelly.”
“How did you know I burned your stuff?”
“I think Zachary heard it from someone and told me.Which was why I kissed Becky Green at a party in front of as many people as possible. I felt like I had to prove I didn’t care what you did.”
“And you kissing Becky Green was why I kissed Derek Kelly at a bonfire. And why I didn’t call you when I got my dorm assignment, even though I wanted to.”
“And I didn’t call you when I got an apprenticeship.”
“And I avoided you at Christmas when I came home to visit my family.”
